Arabic grammar
Arabic grammar explained in plain words. There is no verb “to have”: to say you have something is one word, ʿindī, literally “it is with me”. What is harder: case endings on the end of the word, a dual number beside singular and plural, and a verb that agrees with the gender and the number of who acts.
Notes
- 📐One greeting for everythingGreetings are many here, and half of them carry a religious shade. For everyday speech one word is enough: marhaba — a…
- 📐Please and do not mention it: two words, three rolesA request is polite in itself: min fadlik ("out of your favor") stands at the end, like the English please: qahva min…
- 📐A sentence without the verb to beThere is no linking verb "is" in the present tense. "My name is Ivan" is literally "my name Ivan": ismii Iwaan. "The…
- 📐Two of a kind: the dualArabic has a dual: two of a thing are spoken of neither as one nor as many. A noun takes "-aan" at the end: bayt — a…
- 📐A question: hal and the question wordsThere are two ways to ask, and both are simple.
- 📐The present: eight shapes of one verbThe verb changes by person, and the pronoun beside it is almost always spare: the form itself has said who acts. The…
- 📐The article al and the sun lettersThe definite article is not an "sometimes" thing — it stands on nearly every second word: al-bayt, al-qahva. There is…
- 📐Negation: laa for the present, maa for the pastTwo particles divide the tenses. laa stands before a present-tense verb: laa afham — "I do not understand", laa aʿrif…
- 📐Dearer and cheaper: the comparativeThe rule is short: inside the adjective a pattern of "a + first letter + doubled second + a" grows "more such". rakhiis…
- 📐Where it is: prepositions of placePlace is described here without a verb: an object, a preposition, a place — and the phrase is complete. at-taawila fii…
- 📐Mine, yours: the possessive endingsThere is no separate word "my" here — and none is needed: the ending glues straight onto the word. raas — a head…
- 📐The past: eight shapes of one verbThe past is the simplest shape of the verb, and it works like "went": the ending itself has said who acts. The stem…
- 📐A request: the imperativeA request opens with the imperative shape, and it is assembled from the past. Drop the endings and insert "-i-" after…
- 📐The future: sawf and the prefix sa-The future is made by two short things: the word sawf or the single prefix "sa-" before a present-tense verb. sawf…
- 📐The plural: broken shapesThere are two kinds of plural here. The sound one — for words on the taa marbuta: add "-aat" and it is done. nazzaraat…
- 📐The adjective after the wordThe noun phrase here has two members: first the word, then the feature. bayt kabiir — a house big; saiyaara jadiida — a…
- 📐Give me: the pronouns at the end of a wordYou already know the possessive endings: "raasii" — my head, "zamiiluk" — your colleague. The same endings glue onto a…
- 📐Must, may, must notThree words close all modality, and mixing them up is costly. yumkin — it is possible: impersonal, with no subject at…
- 📐This and that: haadhaa, haadhihi, dhaalika, tilkaThere are four demonstratives here, and they are built like little phrases: haadhaa — this (m.), haadhihi — this (f.)…
- 📐No and there is not: maa ʿandii, laa yuujad, laisaThere are three ways to say "no" here, and each stands in its own place. "I do not have" — maa ʿandii: the negation…
- 📐Very and a little: the degree of a featureArabic measures the degree of a feature with a short ruler: qaliilan — a little, kathiiran — much, jiddan — very. All…
- 📐Because, if, when: two thoughts in one sentenceFour connectives stitch short phrases into a story: li-anna — because, idaa — if, ʿindamaa — when, anna — that. You…
- 📐The idafa: whose it is — possession without a prepositionPossession is built here with no preposition at all: two nouns simply stand side by side. "Bayt al-jadd" — the house of…
- 📐Which: alladhi and allatiiA thing can be described with an adjective: "al-kitaab al-jadiid". But "the teacher who taught the lesson" cannot be…
- 📐Many, few, some: the words of quantity"Many" and "few" are not hung straight on a noun: Arabic says kathiir min — "many OF" — and the same with qaliil min…
- 📐If and if only: idaa and lawThere are two "ifs" here, and they divide reality. Idaa — if it can happen; after it the verb stands in the past. "Idaa…
- 📐The most: afdal and the articleYou have already built the comparative: "akbar" — bigger, "arkhas" — cheaper. The superlative is not built by a…
- 📐The same, too, twice: the words around a feature"The very same" is one word, nafs, and it stands before the name: "nafs as-siʿr" — the same price. The article goes to…
- 📐One root, two shapes: how the language makes verbsEverything else about the verb you already had: katabtu — I wrote, aktubu — I write. Now look at them from above: the…
- 📐Another's speech: qaala inna…Other languages chain another's words with "that"; here it is done with inna: "qaala" + inna + an ordinary sentence.…
- 📐The doer is hidden: the vowels change, the consonants holdOther languages build the passive with a helper and a participle. Here it is done with vowels: the same three…
- 📐Purpose, concession, consequence: likay, raghm ann, lidaalikCause and condition you have already linked: li-anna — because, idaa — if. Now close the set with the three remaining…
- 📐The word order: the verb loves the first placeIn the bookish language the verb stands first, then the doer, then the rest: zahaba Saamii ilaa as-suuq — went Sam to…
- 📐The adjective: the definition behind and the feminine taaHere the adjective stands AFTER the noun: كريم — generous, رجل كريم — a man generous. There is no linking verb, and the…
- 📐A feeling without "I am": ashʿur bi-, ʿandii and the two-member phraseIn English a feeling is a verb: "I am ashamed", "I am bored". Here a feeling is a thing: you have khajal, you have…
- 📐Kitchen commands: the imperativeThe command here is a short form of the present: yusakhkhin — he heats → sakhkhin — heat. In the kitchen the commands…
- 📐What it is made of: min + the materialThe material is introduced by the preposition min: min suuf — of wool, min khariir — of silk, min blaastiik — of…
- 📐The name of an action: from a verb — a thingHere almost every verb brings its own name: islaah — a repair — from yaslih — he mends; tabdiil — a change — from…
- 📐The weather without a verb: al-jaww and the two-member phraseThe weather here is the air: al-jaww. Not "the day is fine" but "the air is beautiful" — "al-jaww jamiil". There is no…
- 📐Where, where to, from where: fii, ilaa, min and the articlePlace rests on three prepositions. Fii — where: "fii al-bayt" — in the house. Ilaa — where to: "ilaa al-madrasa" — to…
- 📐At me and on me: ʿandii, alayya an, ahtaaj ilaaThere is no verb "to have", and that is not a hole in the language but another view. A thing does not "belong" to a…
- 📐Three tenses: kaana, yafʿal, sa-yafʿalThere are two tenses here, and the third is a device. The past is the form itself: "nasiya" — he forgot, "wulidtu" — I…
- 📐A soft request and a polite refusalPoliteness here rests on three props. The first — a question of possibility: not "repeat" but "hal yumkinu an…
- 📐A profession is a participle: faaʿil, the one who doesAlmost every profession here is a participle, not a "ready word". A root is taken, usually of three letters, and…
- 📐The number takes the gender in reverse: salaasa kutubIn counting there is a reversal. From three to ten the numeral takes the noun in the plural — and in the opposite…
- 📐The broken plural: not an ending but a rebuildThere are two plurals here. The first is the "sound" one: for feminine words on "a" — simply "aat" at the end. For…
- 📐The family of the root: fann → fannaan → funuunIn the dictionary lives not a word but a root — usually three consonants carrying the sense. "kh-n-n" — "art": from it…
- 📐The verb and the preposition: who is friends with whomWhat other languages put inside the verb often lives here outside — as a preposition. "To play something" — "laʿiba"…
- 📐A meter, two meters, three meters: the number after the wordIn counting everything is reversed: the number stands AFTER the noun — "mitr waahid", not "waahid mitr". And the…
- 📐Where it hurts: yujiʿunii and mariid bi-Pain here is not "I have a pain" but "a part of the body torments me". The owner of the pain is signed right in the…
- 📐For the holiday and for the guest: fii, alaa, li-Time and occasion are laid out in small words, and each has its own job.
- 📐Words without an author: yaquuluuna inna and an qawlAnother's words are not hidden here: they are put into quotation marks made of one word — inna.
- 📐The more, the better: kullamaaThe "the more…, the better…" of other languages is assembled here from one particle, twice. Kullamaa — "every time…
- 📐A state through a participle: mablul, matfii, mughabbarAlmost every state word in this lesson is a participle: a shape of the verb that lives as an adjective. It is not a…
- 📐What it is done with: the preposition bi glues to the wordOther languages cut "with a knife" with a case ending; Arabic cuts it with the preposition bi. The preposition glues…
- 📐Where and where to: the prepositions of placeThe preposition is set BEFORE the word, and the article does not vanish. "Fii al-ghurfa" — in the room; "ilaa…
- 📐A share, a multiple and a difference: three tools of countingA share, a multiple and a difference are three different tools, and mixing them up is costly.
- 📐The present: the person is seen in the first and the last letterThe present-tense verb is conjugated from both ends: the person is seen in the prefix and in the ending. Take the verb…
- 📐Kutiba, futiha: the doer hidden inside the verbWhen it does not matter who acts, the language changes the vowels inside the verb itself. The doer vanishes, and what…
- 📐From a verb — a name: farz, takhziin, istilaamThe names of affairs and processes are built from verbs, and you can recognize them by the shape. One parsing — and you…
- 📐When: ʿindamaa, baynamaa, qabla an, hattaaTwo events are tied into one sentence by the unions of time, and each has its own job.
- 📐The grown-on pronouns: raʾaituhu, aʿtaituhaaThe short pronouns do not stand beside a word — they grow onto its end, like the "-self" and "-to" of other languages.…
- 📐Qaala inna: another's speech with no shift of timeAnother's words are inserted into a frame, and there are several frames here. The time does not shift a step: yesterday…
What works differently from what you know
“The house is big” in Arabic is two words with no linking verb: in the present tense “to be” simply drops out, and the subject stands next to the predicate directly. In the past the link comes back: “the house was big” already says kāna.
W. Wright, “A Grammar of the Arabic Language”, 3rd ed., 1896–1898
What is hard about Arabic and what comes for free
Hard: case endings on the end of the word, a dual number beside singular and plural, and a verb that agrees with the gender and the number of who acts.
Easy: there is no verb “to have”: to say you have something is one word, ʿindī, literally “it is with me”.
This is not a verdict on the language but a hint on where to spend effort. The hard parts are best taken a little at a time and often; the easy parts — left alone while they work by themselves.
Frequently asked
Is the grammar of Arabic complicated?
Case endings on the end of the word, a dual number beside singular and plural, and a verb that agrees with the gender and the number of who acts is the main difficulty. In return, there is no verb “to have”: to say you have something is one word, ʿindī, literally “it is with me”.
Should grammar be learned separately?
Not as a separate course. A rule learned before you need it is forgotten before you meet it. It is more useful to work it out at the moment you stumble over it.